Finger-ring.



A. T. HUNT.

FINGER RING.

APPLICATION man SEPT. I. 1915.

1 207,047 Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

W/TNESSES:

BY M /M,,

A TTOR/VEY s nus cmrnam umouwasmuunm n c UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED T. HUNT, OF NEW YORK, N'. Y.

FIN GER-BIN G.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 1, 1915. Serial No. 48,405.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED T. HUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Finger-Rings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of my invention is to prevent finger rings, such as wedding rings of gold, from discoloring the fingers of the wearer. This purpose I accomplish by the structure of the ring.

I will first describe the ring, and then point out the manner in which it is prevented from discoloring the finger upon which it is worn.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like letters indicate like parts in all of the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective showing a womans hand with a wedding ring fitted upon the ring finger thereof. Fig. 2 is a perspective of an endless metallic band used as an inner facing for the ring. Fig 3 is a perspective of the ring body as it appears before the metallic band is secured within it. Fig. 4 is a view partly in elevation and partly broken away showing the ring when finished and ready to be worn. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section showing the ring as fitted upon the finger.

Fitted upon the ring finger 6 of the hand 7 is the ring, in this instance a Wedding ring, indicated as a whole by the numeral 8. It consists of a thick ring body 9, within which is secured a thin endless band 10 of annular form. The ring body 9 is made of gold, as the term is used in this art, and has the general proximate form of a complete finger ring. The endless band 10, however, is very thinpreferably not over of an inch thick, and the thickness of this member is uniform, while that of the ring body 9 varies at diflerent distances from its edges, as may be understood from Fig. 5. The endless'band 10 is in this instance made of an alloy containing platinum. For the alloy, I prefer to use, by weight, platinum eighty-five per cent, iridium ten per cent., and rhodium five per cent. This alloy has a rich color not much different from ltlhati of fine commercial gold, and it is very The endless band is secured to the ring. I

body 9 by shrinking the ring body upon it. That is to say, the ring body is heated, say to a low red heat, and thus expanded. The endless band, while cold, is fitted into the ring body. The endless band becomes heated by contact with the hot ring body, and expands so as to make a tight fit. This completes the ring, and as it cools and contracts in volume, the band remains tightly secured in position. If, now, the ring be, placed upon the ring finger 6, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 5, the resulting slight compression of the finger as indicated in Fig. 5 causes the edgesvof the endless band to be completely hidden from view by the portions 11 of the skin. The endless band is therefore concealed while the ring is being worn, and yet the endless band, which forms an inner face for the ring, practically prevents direct contact between the ring body 9 and the skin of the ring finger.

I will now add a few explanatory remarks relating to gold rings as ordinarily made and used, and showin how they tend to discolor the fingers; an showing how, in my improved finger ring, above described, such tendency is abolished. Gold rings, as the term is used in this art, are seldom if ever made of pure gold, on account of the softness of the metal. Such rings are therefore usually made of gold mixed with an alloy, which may be equal parts by weight of copper and silver. In order to confer upon a ring the requisite durability and hardness, the proportion of the alloy to the aggregate weight of the ring must be considerable. For instance, in a let-karat ring the alloy contained is ten-twentyfourths of the total weight of the article. Yet as to color and general appearance, a ring of this quality is comparable with a ring containing a much larger proportion of pure gold. Such being the case, and the substitution of alloy for gold being also in the interest of economy, there is naturally a tendency to increase rather than to diminish the proportion of alloy employed. Here, however, a difliculty arises. Under ordinary conditions of wear, a ring containing a large proportion of alloy is likely to discolor the finger upon which it is worn. The degree of discoloration may vary with circumstances, and is greater for the same ring if worn by some people than by others.

ewelers often hear complaints due to the discoloration of gold rings of standard fineness, and many investlgations have been made wlth a View to preventing such di coloration. For the reasons above stated, it may readily be seen that the discoloration' of the fingers by rings worn upon them is by no means a trivial matter.-

My improved ring has this singular advantage: The metal of the ring, so far as visible while the ring is being worn, may consist of gold 'of conventional fineness and hardness; yet practically the entire surface of the Y'ring' so far as kept constantly in contact with the finger, consists of an alloy incapable of discolorin'g the finger.

I do not li mit myself to the exact structure disclosed, as variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention. 7

I claim:

1. A finger ring comprising a ring body base metal and having a thick an endless band upon which said fits tightly, said endless band becontaining wall; and

ring body mists of this iiatehe may b obtained for ger of the wearer by contact therewith, and

an endless band of protecting material covering the inner surface of said ring body in order to prevent contact between said surface and the finger of the wearer, said band being sufficiently thin to be concealed by the skin of the finger when the ring is worn thereupon. v In testimony whereof, I have signed name to this specification. w ALFRED T. HUNT.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. G. 

